My Take

From an impressive fleet of 21 submarines in 80’s, Indian Navies Submarine fleet is currently down to 15 subs with four German-designed HDWs (SSKs) on the last leg of their operational life, Indian Submarine fleet could have hit rock bottom in next few years if Defence minister Manohar Parrikar had not intervened.

Reports are emerging in Indian media that French firm DCNS may get further orders to supply conventional submarines, Mumbai-based Mazagaon Dock Limited along with DCNS is already building six Scorpene submarines of which first lead ship INS Kalvari already has commenced its Sea Trials. Continue reading →

It is very hard to find a fighter jet for rental in our part of the world. After searching the web patiently and persistently I shortlisted One company based on their reviews and more importantly on the range of Jets they offered. They had the added advantage of operating from multiple countries and continents.

Excitement

Then came the important part of planning the trip. Travelling with my wife and two kids limited the options. I had to choose a part of the world which would offer something for the kids too. Leaving the european options, I had to choose between Las Vegas and Toronto.

Earlier this year India air force and Royal Air-force were pitted against each other in Joint Air and Ground Exercise Indradhush. 4 Sukhoi-30MKI aircrafts of No 2 Squadron ” Winged Arrows ” based at Air force base in Tezpur Assam flew all the way to United kingdom for combined exercise against Eurofighter Typhoons.

Two-week long exercises by Indian contingent of 4 Sukhoi-30MKI aircrafts and 185 Personnel’s saw accomplishment of different missions between IAF and RAF but much stressed were laid on Air defence Missions both in BVR and WVR exercises which progressed from one versus one DACT to Two versus then even to large fixed formation flying which saw almost 20 aircrafts . Continue reading →

If you ever Visited Aero India in last decade or so there are high chances that you might have seen witnessed a sterling Tejas demonstration flight performed by this man . if you are lucky enough you might have also had brief opportunity to catch up with Group Captain (R) Suneet Krishna who is also known has Mr. LCA by supporters of the LCA-Tejas program.

Group Captain (R) Suneet Krishna is only Test Pilot who has been flying various Tejas Aircrafts for more than a decade now and officially joined ADA in 2001 was piloting Chase Mirage-2000 aircraft, when first LCA Prototype TD-1 made its first flight. Continue reading →

Cartoon drawn by Mohit Jayal which was published on December 1995 shows how Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Program even in its early days had more critics than supporters.

As soon as Air Chief confirmed to the reporters that IAF indeed will place orders for more than 120 Tejas MK-1 aircrafts in its current configurations, One particular International news agency’s from its Indian bureau in Delhi fired the first salvo against Countries Tejas Program by ridiculing Air-forces decisions to order what they reported was a flawed aircraft and also Questioned logic behind not going for larger orders of French Rafale fighter jet .

Attack from International News Agencies on India’s LCA-Tejas Program seems to have ruffled some feathers in International Arms lobby group which seem to be worried about new-found love by IAF for Indigenous Aircraft types and its future plans which involves development and supporting indigenous types like Tejas MK-2 and AMCA to meet future needs of the air force. Continue reading →

For long Indian Air force (IAF) has been ridiculed as Imported Air force (IAF) which always makes the best case to Import crucial types of equipment like fighter jet rather than supporting indigenous route in product development to meet its requirements.

While IAF is partially at fault but it always can’t be blamed for failures of our government-owned Public sector companies which time and again have failed to deliver Ingeniously equipment as per delivery schedules and without cost overruns with desired quality requested by forces. Continue reading →

India’s effort to build its first 5th generation fighter Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is all set to go official later this year. Ministry of Defense (MOD) in coming months will sanction funds for Phase-1 of the development of AMCA to start.

M-MRCA debacle and current negotiation for only two squadrons of Rafale fighter jet with France means Indian air forces declining combat strength will also fast track due to lack of intakes of newer aircrafts. Continue reading →

India’s former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee had once said, “You can choose friends, but you cannot choose neighbours.” This sums up the unenviable situation which India finds itself in. Ever since two dominions- India and Pakistan were born on the midnight of 15th August, 1947, there has been no love lost between the two nations. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has always been a bone of contention between two countries and has even led to three wars- in 1947, 1965 and 1999.

This has been the focal point of almost all conflicts, with both nations refusing to cede ground. Meanwhile, as most of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be a part of the Indian Union, Pakistan continues with its policy of ‘Bleeding India through a thousand cuts’, that is, fermenting terrorism against the Indian state to make up for its deficiency in conventional military prowess. Thus, India’s relations with Pakistan, at best, can be described as volatile or worse. India’s is the world’s largest democracy. Continue reading →

According to latest Military Industrial reports United states dominates with 46 % Market Share of Armed Military helicopters in the world. Us made Textron Bell AH-1 Cobra, Textron Bell OH-58 Kiowa and Boeing AH-64 Apache at present make up 18-19 % of that market share with each helicopter having Production run of more than 1000 units, which pretty much will keep United states in the lead for next few decades to come, even though two of the earlier mentioned helicopters are no longer in production .

Textron Bell AH-1 Cobra and Textron Bell OH-58 Kiowa both described as Light attack helicopters had a combined production run for more than 2100 helicopters which will need replacements by their respective users in next a decade or two and United states is replacing their current fleet with more expensive and heavier Boeing AH-64 Apache leaves plenty for others to fill up the void. Continue reading →

In Chinese mythology, the duel between fire and water is described as one of wits. It was a contest between equals, a contest for supremacy, one that was seemingly stuck in a deadlock, only till water decided to transform and claim the stakes once and for all. Water, in all its wisdom , transformed into ice, assuming that its new found form, will intimidate fire into submission.

On the contrary, fire was able to melt water down and win the battle. Thus, this story proves that change must come with some analysis. A mere transformation may not always help us prevail over our enemies; objectivity and reason can help us prepare better. In the midst of the Gurdaspur attacks, police personnel were seen swarming the place, dressed in high tech attire and carrying Israeli Tavors, but like ice, their transformation was inadequate. They lacked basic head gear and other protective equipments that could have served them better. However, a combination of pure luck with their well executed combing operation ensured that the stand-off ended without any tragedy. Continue reading →

“You can die crossing the street,” he observed, “or you could die in a nuclear war. You’ve got to die some day anyway.” Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Munir Akram, reiterated Pakistan’s refusal of a no-first-use policy amid 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff after an attack on Indian Parliament, then India’s Defence Minister George Fernandes responded by saying “India can survive a nuclear attack, but Pakistan cannot”.

For long Pakistan believed that its aggressive nuclear posturing will deter any Indian response in event of any terror-related incidents but all that changed due to two main development in India, which many in India believed gave India enough reasons to call Pakistan’s nuclear bluff. Continue reading →

Post the Kargil war, Indian security establishment felt urgent need to usher in some fundamental changes. The Home ministry, helmed by L.K Advani, the second most powerful minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government, who also went on to become the Deputy PM, approved some sweeping changes, that were not only unprecedented but also pretty much in genuine.

“Why did you join this service”, an innocuous question this writer asked a 40 something paramilitary soldier. “I used to work in a rice mill. My manager was a good man. I was paid well, treated even better, the manager would trust me with his financial affairs, I would be asked to deposit significant sums of money”. He paused, gazed around for a while and then continued, “My parents though had other ideas, they wanted me to get into a government job, I tried convincing them that I was doing well in this job, but then they asked me to appear for recruitment trials for this very force and here I am”. He looked at me intently, and then smiled.

I asked him if he felt he had done the right thing, his reply, was equally inspiring and troubling-“I don’t know, maybe I should have never left the job, I was settled well, I have served for 16 years now, I have had my share of joys, I served in the NSG for 6 years, no one can question my integrity and my devotion, I have been devoted to my motherland, but for all these years I have had to stay away from my family and kids, God forbid, if some trouble befalls them and I am far away, who will help them? The least I can say is, we men and women of Central Armed Police Forces deserve some extra support from the government, as the armed forces do”. Continue reading →

Concept to develop a twin-engine fighter aircraft post LCA project can be tracked back to late 90’s when first stretches of Medium combat aircraft (MCA) emerged which back then was a tailless delta design with two engines, combined with a thrust vectoring control capability.

Aircraft was designed keeping in mind LCA-Tejas Delta wings and was a direct derivative from LCA, as per original idea it was supposed to have maximum spares and design commodity with Tejas at that time. The main purpose was to replace the aging Jaguar & MiG-27 fleet from the Indian Air force, original design weight was supposed to be less than 20 ton. Continue reading →

Indian Army on 08 June , has issued Request for Information (RFI) to Vendors for design of Future Universal Combat Platform upon which new Main Battle tank will be developed to replace existing Soviet-era T-72 Main battle tanks in the Armoured Corps which will enter service in Indian Army by 2025-27.

“Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV)” under which RFI has been issued requested Design Bureaus from India and Abroad to submit their Design information by 31-July-2015. Continue reading →